Tip: Bulk updates to a table

Here's a nice trick: bulk update of a table in place.

Say you have a table for data that is updated regularly. You don't want to add or edit data row by row! You'd like to keep the same table, but include the updates. Here are two tips, depending on what form the updates take: a bunch of new rows, or updates scattered throughout the rows.

Add new rows to a table

Try it yourself!

Imagine you are tracking all vacant or abandoned buildings in Chicago, each of which was identified by a service request on a specific date. The table has data through March of 2011 and now you want to add in April's data.

We've created some sample data for you and put April's new rows in a Google Spreadsheet.